least weasel

plural least weasels

1. The common weasel, little weasel, or simply weasel (Mustela nivalis), the smallest member of the weasel genus Mustela, native to Eurasia, North America, and North Africa.

   The range of the Least Weasel extends entirely across the continent on this hemisphere; but its north and south dispersion are less definite, in the present state of our knowledge.

   1877, Elliott Coues, “MUSTELINÆ—Continued: The Weasels. [The Weasel. Putorius (Gale) vulgaris.]”, in Fur-bearing Animals: A Monograph of North American Mustelidæ, […] (United States Geological Survey of the Territories, Department of the Interior, Miscellaneous Publications; no. 8), Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 105

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   Two other interesting animals may have lived in that tree, the least weasel and his sanguinary cousin the ermine, or large weasel. Both are brown, after the snow finally disappears, and both turn white with the first snow-storm.

   1884, Edward P[ayson] Roe, “An Old Tenement”, in Nature’s Serial Story, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead, and Company, →OCLC, page 342

   The least weasels are also circumpolar in distribution, but are limited to the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. [...] Least weasels are characterized by the same swift alertness and boldness so marked in the larger species. In fact they are, if possible, even quicker in their movements.

   1918 May, Edward W[illiam] Nelson, “Smaller Mammals of North America”, in Gilbert H[ovey] Grosvenor, editor, National Geographic, volume XXXIII, number 5, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 471

   The least weasel is active both summer and winter, and although primarily nocturnal, it frequently hunts in the daytime. It neither hibernates nor migrates, though it may move from area to area to find available food.

   1961, Hartley H. T. Jackson, “Family Mustelidae, Weasels and Allies”, in Mammals of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, →ISBN, page 344, column 2

   [S]he had hoped against hope that he would be a least weasel—smallest of all carnivores. She had never seen one. The least weasel diets almost exclusively on tiny, selected mice.

   1973, John McPhee, “Travels in Georgia”, in Pieces of the Frame, 1st paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, published 1979, →ISBN, page 28

   Ounce for ounce, few creatures who hunt can match the relentless little least weasel. Driven by hunger and nervous energy, this tiny bundle of muscle and nerves is an efficient killer. [...] The least weasel can't squirt its foul fume like a skunk, but it can raise a pretty good stink. In summer, the male wears a coat which a chocolate brown top and white belly. In winter, the entire coat becomes white to match the snow.

   1978 January, Steve Maslowski, “The Least Weasel”, in Boys’ Life: The Magazine for All Boys, volume LXVIII, number 1, North Brunswick, N.J.: Boy Scouts of America, →OCLC, page 18, column 1